Lawyer: Evidence contradicts Christie on closures

TRENTON, N.J.— Gov. Chris Christie made inaccurate statements during a news conference about the lane closures near
the George Washington Bridge, according to a letter released Friday by a lawyer for a former Christie loyalist who ordered
the closures and resigned amid the ensuing scandal that has engulfed the New Jersey governor's administration.

In the letter, David Wildstein's lawyer said his client "contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made
about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some."

Attorney Alan Zegas' letter also said evidence exists suggesting the governor knew about the closures as they happened in
September. The letter does not say what the evidence is and Zegas did not return calls to The Associated Press.

The Republican governor's office said the letter's key allegation — that Christie knew about the closures as they happened
— does not contradict the governor's statements.

"He had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were
for closing them to begin with," Christie's office said in a statement. "As he said in his Jan. 9 press conference, had no
indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of Jan. 8."

At the nearly two-hour news conference on Jan. 9, Christie gave responses open to interpretation about when he first learned
about the closings while saying flatly he knew nothing about an apparently political motive until months later.

When asked if he understood why people would have a hard time believing "you didn't know about this thing," he responded:

"I don't know what else to say except to tell them that I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything
about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over."

"And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study," he said.

In another instance, asked if he had
authorized the retribution, Christie said: "Oh, absolutely not. No. And I
knew nothing
about this. And until it started to be reported in the papers
about the closure, but even then I was told this was a traffic
study."

Christie's account that he learned of the matter from newspapers mirrored his statement at a news conference almost a month
earlier.

On Friday night, Christie appeared at a birthday party for radio personality Howard Stern, but did not take questions after
introducing a performance by Jon Bon Jovi.

Zegas' letter to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey requests that the agency pay his legal bills. Wildstein was
Christie's No. 2 man at the Port Authority, the agency that runs the bridge, before resigning in December.

The letter is unclear about whether Wildstein is suggesting he has material that has not been made public previously or whether
he is referring to information that has been reported in recent weeks.

Christie had adamantly denied staff members
were involved until private emails that were subpoenaed and released
showed otherwise.
Besides Wildstein, three others connected to Christie have been
fired or resigned.

New Jersey legislators are investigating
whether Christie aides engineered the lane closures in the community of
Fort Lee
to send a message to the town's Democratic mayor. The U.S.
Attorney's office is also investigating. Twenty subpoenas for documents
and correspondence related to the lane closings are due to be
returned to the legislative panel on Monday.

No subpoenas target Christie himself, a possible 2016 presidential candidate who has just begun a yearlong chairmanship of
the Republican Governors Association.

Some Democrats pounced on Friday's letter.
Milly Silva, a union executive who ran for lieutenant governor last year
issued
a statement saying, "If these allegations are proven, it raises
serious questions about how New Jersey can continue to move
forward under Gov. Christie's leadership."

Wildstein, who attended Livingston High School with Christie, appeared under subpoena before a legislative committee on the
same day as Christie's news conference. But he refused to answer any questions from lawmakers about the lane closures.

He even refused to say whether he had previously worked at the Port Authority, though just weeks earlier, he publicly resigned
from his post there.

Wildstein, who previously was a political blogger, said Zegas advised him to remain silent for fear of being prosecuted. Zegas
has said Wildstein would be willing to talk if granted immunity from criminal investigators.

The committee found him to be in contempt and referred the case to a prosecutor.